AMERICAN FOREST TREES 285 



expected to attract much attention in the future. Nevertheless, it is a 

 strong, interesting tree. It takes advantage of every opportunity to 

 develop. When an acorn germinates in good soil, and receives sufficient 

 light and moisture, it produces a merchantable tree ; but in poor soil and 

 under unfavorable circumstances it becomes a stunted bush only. 

 Woodlots of turkey oak planted in fertile land would probably do as well 

 as most of the southern red oaks under like conditions. The tree is not 

 apt to get justice, because of the prejudice against it. 



CALIFORNIA BLACK OAK (Quercus californica) ranges from central 

 Oregon southward through the coast region of California nearly to the 

 Mexican boundary. It occurs also on the western slope of the Sierra 

 Nevadas in California. It is not found on the plains or near the sea, but 

 occurs on mountain slopes, low summits, elevated valleys, and in can- 

 yons. In the North, it ranges from 1,500 to 3,000 feet and in the South 

 it ascends to 9,000 feet. This far western oak bears more resemblance to 

 the yellow oak (Quercus velutina) of the East than to any other. Trees 

 have been reported 100 feet high and four in diameter, but they are 

 scarce. Seventy-five feet high and two or three feet in diameter are 

 usual dimensions of mature timber. The trees are inclined to be angular 

 in the outlines of their crowns. The leaves fall in autumn, but the acorns 

 persist two years. They sit deep in their rough cups. The trunk is 

 habitually crooked. It leans out of plumb, and lacks the nicely balanced 

 poise which adds to the attractiveness of some oaks. The large boles are 

 usually hollow, dead at the tops, or otherwise defective. That con- 

 dition is apparently due to old age. Trees stand long after they pass 

 maturity and start on their decline. They die by inches, and not in- 

 frequently they decay and crumble by piecemeal both at the bottom and 

 at the top. At best the trunk of this oak is of poor form for saw timber. 

 It divides into large limbs ten or twenty feet from the ground. It is 

 of slow growth, and it reaches old age possibly as much as 350 years in 

 extreme cases. The wood is very porous, but the pores are not in rows. 

 The medullary rays are thin and distinct. It is not known that any 

 quarter-sawing has been attempted, and it would hardly be profitable. 

 The wood is pale red, exceedingly brittle, firm, light for oak, and it has a 

 distinct odor of tannin with which both the wood and the bark are 

 heavily charged. The principal uses to which this oak is put in Cali- 

 fornia and Oregon are as fuel and ranch timbers, the latter being of the 

 simplest and roughest sort. Its fuel value is high, compared with other 

 woods of the region. Some use was made of the bark for tanning pur- 

 poses years ago on the Pacific slope, but it does not appear to go to 

 market now. 



BLUB JACK OAK (Quercus brevifolia) bears several names, upland willow oak, 





